Chapter 424: Midnight Mirror
The waning crescent moon reflected off the pristine water of the Midnight Mirror. The large oval-shaped terrace served as a ceremonial arena and gave a clear view to those watching from the Silver Keep’s tribunal chamber.
The short walk down the marble steps of the chamber to the terrace was filled with the voices of the chieftains and shamans. Some were filled with excitement, a few were words of encouragement, but most were taunts and ridicule. Stryg tried to ignore their words but every time he heard them call him ‘outsider’ it chipped at his own security deep within.
Stryg walked around the Midnight Mirror’s pool, careful not to step inside the shallow water. A priestess from the Celestial Shrine was waiting on one end of the terrace for him. In her hands, she held a pair of white garbs.
While keeping his eyes on the ground, Stryg stripped down to his undergarments. The priestess handed him the garbs and whispered a silent prayer for his victory as per tradition. He quietly thanked her and slipped into the white pair of pants tunic. Both were short-sleeved, with the shirt ending at his elbows and the pants at his knees. Still, neither was particularly tight.
Odd.
He didn’t think they would have any clothes of his size prepared beforehand. Unless… Someone was already planning on this outcome.
Stryg glanced up at the chamber’s balcony where the Shaman-Elect Lumi was looking down at him with a satisfied smile.
~~~
“I failed,” Aurelia muttered in frustration. “I should have expected Lumi would do something like this.”
“You’re not wrong,” Jahn noted.
Aurelia glared at him and hissed.
“What? You’re not,” he shrugged abashedly.
“What is happening? What is the Midnight Mirror tradition?” Plum whispered, careful to stay close to the Blood Fang goblins and far from the rest.
There were close to two hundred goblins standing in the chamber; chieftains, First Mothers, and shamans of their respective tribes. And all of them wanted nothing more than to see Tauri and her in chains or worse.
“Its proper name is the Midnight Mirror Challenge,” Jahn said.
Plum’s eyes widened. “Wait, Challenge? You mean…?”
“A duel,” Virella added. “Specifically a duel to the death.”
“Stryg is going to have to kill someone?” Plum whispered.
“Fortunately, yes. He’ll only have to kill one person. Usually, these duels would have at least 4 or 5 participants. Sometimes they’ve even had 63,” Virella explained.
“63!? H-How? Why?!” Plum asked, dumbfounded.
“On rare occasions, there are disputes that must be settled between each and every tribe. On those nights a champion is chosen from each tribe to battle in the Mirror.” Virella closed her eyes and shivered, “I still remember the last time it happened.”
Jahn nodded grimly, “It was 21 years ago. 63 goblins walked onto the Mirror. It was crowded, they were only a pace or two away from one another.”
“They taunted each other,” Aurelia shook her head in derision. “They were actually excited. Until the duel started and the claws raked across their skin, tearing their flesh.”
“There was so much blood. Their insides were strewn about the pool and the Mirror was dyed red,” Jahn muttered.
“Until there were only five left. Then four, three, and then… then there was only one. One goblin, dyed red with blood, stood amidst the pile of corpses. The sole victor.” Virella stared at Aurelia, “They called her the Blooded.”
Plum and Tauri slowly turned to Aurelia with a mixture of horror and awe.
“You?” Plum mumbled.
Aurelia ignored their gazes and stared down at the Midnight Mirror. “I did what was expected of me for my tribe.”
“As does Stryg,” Tauri said in realization.
“He’ll be fine, right?” Plum asked in a somewhat hopeful yet nervous tone.
“Stryg is a master mage. So long as he doesn’t have to fight Arden, I’m sure he’ll be alright,” Tauri said reassuringly.
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“The Guardian of the Sylvan does not engage in personal Challenges of any kind,” the Silver Mother explained. “The Shaman-Elect will have selected a champion from among the tribes beforehand.” Virella sighed and slumped her shoulders, “However, magic of any sort is prohibited in the Midnight Mirror.”
“As are weapons and life force techniques,” Jahn said. “A goblin must stand alone under the gaze of Lunae and be judged on equal ground.”
“Knowing Lumi, she’ll have picked the greatest warrior among the tribes willing to be her puppet,” Virella frowned. “And I’m fairly certain I know who it might be.”
As if answering her words, the chamber’s double doors swung open with a loud creak and a goblin dressed in the ceremonial white garbs walked in. He was taller than any other goblin in the chamber, save Lykos the Warrior-Elect. His tunic strained against the corded muscles underneath. Scars decorated his body from countless previous duels. His dark hair was tied in a topknot with a golden band.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Jahn groaned.
“Ulthar, the dire son of the Stone Heart tribe,” Virella said in sour confirmation.
Plum’s face paled. “He’s a dire goblin?”
“Thrice as strong as any goblin,” Virella nodded. “He’s won more duels in the last year than almost any Sylvan has in the last ten. Rumor has it Ulthar has recently been chasing after Lumi’s favor.”
“And this is the perfect chance to impress the Shaman-Elect,” Plum guessed.
“Sis…?” Jahn glanced at Aurelia in surprise.
Aurelia glared at Ulthar from across the chamber with clenched fists, until her claws drew blood.
Jahn stared at her for a moment then leaned in close, “If it comes to that, I’ll make sure to get the Silver Mother and the girls out of here.”
“Thanks…” Aurelia muttered in a deadly voice.
Tauri suddenly laughed in a loud voice. “Why are you all acting like Stryg is going to lose?”
“Stryg has never been a great fighter,” Jahn lamented. “His magic has certainly blossomed, but when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, it’s not that he is bad, it’s just, well… He isn’t physically very strong.”
“Without any magic to reinforce his muscles he’ll…” Aurelia bit her lip, unable to finish her words.
“Are you two serious?” Tauri blinked.
“His opponent is a dire, Tauri,” Plum said anxiously. “They are stronger and faster than any of us. I’ve seen Stryg fight a few times, but this is different. He isn’t fighting some street thugs, he is fighting a Sylvan champion.”
“Wow, we clearly don’t know the same man then,” Tauri shook her head. “Plum, you weren’t in the same year as Stryg so you never saw him in his sparring matches, but I taught that class, I watched him fight every single day. Stryg is not the one you need to worry about.”
Plum furrowed her brow at her words and remembered the last moments of the Mage Tourney’s final duel. The way Stryg and Sylvie had fought like animals, ripping into each other with fang and claw. What would happen when two goblins tore at each until one lay dead in the water and blood? She couldn’t help but worry for Stryg.
~~~
Stryg watched the dire goblin walk down the steps and onto the Midnight Mirror. He smiled at Stryg and took his place across the terrace.
“Who is he?” Stryg asked while keeping his eye on his opponent.
“That is Ulthar, son of Stone Heart,” the priestess beside him answered with a slight quiver in her voice.
“I see… Ulthar,” Stryg muttered to himself.
Lykos stood up from his throne and raised his arms high to the crescent moon in the night sky. “As Hand of the Watcher and Warrior-Elect of the Sylvan, I declare the Challenge of the Midnight Moon to begin!”
At the Elect’s words, Ulthar and Stryg stepped onto the shallow pool. The water was freezing cold and reached their ankles, sending icy pinpricks into their feet.
The crowd yelled in approval and chanted words of victory for Stone Heart.
Ulthar smiled at the goblins watching from above and bowed his head to Lumi and the other Lunar Elects, before turning his gaze to the soft-faced blue goblin hungrily, like a wolf eyeing a doe. “I have never fought a Blood Fang before. Tell me, hav—”
Stryg walked towards him with a fast steady pace, his eyes never wavering.
Ulthar narrowed his eyes and grinned, “Come now. Do you wish to fight already? We’ve only just met. The crowd wishes for an entertaining match. Are you so eager to— die!” He abruptly swung his claws out in a large arc towards the blue goblin’s face.
With a calm but swift motion, Stryg snatched Ulthar’s wrist in mid-swing and yanked him close. Ulthar stumbled forward at the sudden jerking movement. Before the dire goblin could react, Stryg extended his free arm out and punched him in the sternum with a solid strike. The sounds of bones cracking resounded loudly in both their ears.
Ulthar grabbed his chest and fell to his knees with a cough, wheezing for air. Stryg advanced without hesitance. Ulthar’s eyes widened in panic and he swung a hook haphazardly. Stryg caught the fist and snapped it with a quick twist. The dire yelled in pain and flinched. In a flash, Stryg crouched low and punched him twice in the ribs in quick succession, the bones shattering with a sickening crunch each time.
Ulthar fell back from the heavy blows in a delirious storm of pain. He tried gasping for breath, but his lungs burned with each attempt. He raised his hands in a feeble attempt to keep the monster away as Stryg calmly walked over. Stryg slapped his arms away, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and shoved Ulthar’s face into the shallow water.
Gone were the cheers and taunts of the crowd. The entire tribunal chamber had fallen silent save for the quiet sounds of sloshing water as Ulthar flailed about, trying to escape. Stryg stared up at the faces of the stunned goblins, eyeing each one, all the while holding Ulthar’s head underwater.
After a minute of painful silence, the dire goblin’s struggles stopped and his arms fell slack in the shallow pool. Stryg stood to his feet and pulled Ulthar’s corpse up like a fisherman proudly showing his catch. But there was no pride in his lilac eyes, only cold methodical apathy.
Lykos stared at them with a grim expression for a tense moment. For the first time in history, there was not a drop of blood on the Midnight Mirror at the end of a duel.
Lykos begrudgingly raised his arms once more. “As Hand of the Watcher and Warrior-Elect of the Sylvan, I declare the Challenge of the Midnight Moon over… The son of Blood Fang— is the victor.”
Stryg nodded at the declaration then glanced at Lumi’s outraged expression, before he tossed Ulthar’s body off the mountainside. Stryg walked off the Midnight Mirror and back up the marble steps without pause. There were no victory boasts, nor taunts as he made his way back to the center of the room.
Plum stared at him with a mixture of fear and surprise, as did Jahn and Virella. Aurelia had a stunned expression on her face and a hint of pride in her eyes.
Stryg noticed none of it. His eyes were affixed to the balcony where the Lunar Elect sat. “Have I proven myself as per tradition?” he asked them impatiently.
Lumi’s face twisted with a scowl but she said nothing.
Sabina smiled with interest and leaned forward, “Speak, son of Blood Fang.”